Beyond the Horizon (Brenak Campaign)

Carefully wrapping up the remaining jerky, Hanro placed it in his pocket, that done, he turned to the female officer. He'd been listening to the occurance with half an ear, and now decided to intervene.

"Take it easy on the lad," he said, speaking calmly, "it's not like he's used ta ships, somethin' I'm sure ye shared once and will recall, if ye try hard enough. Also," he continued nodding towards Dom, "I don't recall that our duties on this 'ere ship included scrubbing the deck."

* * *

Szazzkur considered the information he had gained from the spell as the auras slowly faded from view. It would require further consideration at a later time, he considered. It would also bear remembering that the captain and the wizard had magical auras of moderate strength. Had he been inclined to guessing, Szazzkur would have guessed that both had magical items of some sort that affected their person. As he wasn't, he saved the conclusion for that time when he held enough information.

The time had come, he decided, to become more familiar with the ship's wizard. Perhaps he would even be willing to teach Szazzkur this or that if time allowed.

Dom was ready to jump to the Mate's orders when Hanro intervened. Not sure what to do, he just sat there looking gormless, until Corben spoke. He offered a hand and asked "Um, are you feeling up to getting, um, up?"

Silja silently watched the scene from the top of the stairs, the starnge guy still on the back of her mind. She thought that they had, for the time of the travel, been declared ordinary crew members, and that Hanro was probably in for one of those rude initiation rites usual in seafaring and a lot of trades. But whatever she said, she would either annoy the sailor woman or fall into the back of the other scouts, which was never a good start for a new team.

The boy does seem a bit too young to be on a sailing vessel, now that Silja looks at him. Conversely, his hair seems to be completely white. However, he's down the stairs before she can see anything more.

------------------

The woman looked at Hanro levelly. Then she leaned in very closely to him. "I see we have a layabout onboard who thinks he's special! Well, I've got news for you, me bucko. Your duties are whatever I or any other officer tells you they are. I'm Perda Calenture, third mate on this ship, and you'll do what I tell you, or I'll have you peeling potatoes until you've got 'em growing out of your beard! Now get a mop and help clean this deck on the double!"

She turned to Corben. "You'll just get yourself sick again," she said gruffly. "Get a bucket and stay out of the way until you find your sealegs. Don't you worry, you'll have enough to deal with then!"

She heaved Dom in the direction the two sailors were already headed. "Mops and buckets are that way, laddy buck. Remember to bring one for your friend the loudmouth."

-------------

The old drazai lizard, with his pale green scales, looked at Szazzkur with rheumy eyes. "Greetings, young one," he said in Draz. "I must retire to my cabin. This spellcasting was quite exhausting." He moved past the younger drazai.

-------------

After several hours, land recedes behind them until it's just a dark smudge on the horizon, almost like a stormcloud. In this time, Hanro, Dom, and the two sailors, whose names were Caevan and Attis, finished mopping up the deck. Caevan and Attis were fairly chatty, often making small wagers as the afternoon wore on. They invited Hanro, Dom and Corben to have some ale with them later, to help get them settled in.

--------------

Bedge got familiarized with the basic equipment of navigation in Thistle's cabin. Thistle showed him the charts, and even where some of them had been made purposely inaccurate, so that a mutiny would be short-lived. Eventually, he was given a book of charts, and told to study them above deck while Thistle went to work.

--------------

There was a commotion from down below, and Nerlin came out, pulling two other small forms with him: The boy Silja had seen earlier, and another who looked to be his brother. The cook pulled the two by their ears to the captain's cabin.

They stayed in there for some time. After a bit, Orgul was called in. Anyone passing close to the cabin will hear quite a bit of shouting.

Eventually, Orgul and Nerlin led the two boys out, and back to where the scouts were.

"Dis is Begorn an' Ariadoc," said Orgul. "Dey snuck onboard. Ve can't bring 'em back to shore, so dey're gonna be cabin boys. Ven dey ain't doin' nottin' else, dey's your problem." He shoved the two towards the scouts and then turned to his other duties.

The two boys looked to be about twelve, and had fair skin and white hair. Bedge and Szazzkur knew that that was indicative of someone from the Hard Downs; Bedge because of his knowledge of various places and peoples and Szazzkur because there are often sorcerors from that area. The two boys wore simple, loose clothing, one with a large red cap and the other with a hood. The one was holding his hat in his hands and the other had his hood pulled down. They looked very quiet and a bit sheepish.

"Hello, there..." said Silja. "I was already wondering why the crew would hire such younglings... Allow me one question: You didn't really hope you'd go unnoticed, did you? What made you hide aboard this ship of all?"

Dom just waved at the boys and smiled in what he hoped to be a friendly manner. He wasn't much used to beer and he was feeling decidedly woozy.

He did take his time scrutinising them. He had seen people like that back home, since Endrok was a busy port town and he worked in the busiest smith in the city. But he had never seen children alone before. Where were their parents? And if they were orphans, wouldn't they be much less neat?

Dom decided to let Silja do the asking, for the time being. He was supposed to be good with children, but almost everyone younger than him that he knew was either a sibling, or a cousin, or a niece/nephew to whom he could adress himself as an authority figure. Strong-minded stowaways he knew nothing about and the beer just made things worse.

"I'm thinking someone got into 'is head that a life of adventure in a new land'll be good, hmm?" Hanro, winking to the lads.

"They are from Hard Downs, if I am not mistaken," Szazzkur said. "You two are far from home," he told the two boys, "and getting farther by the hour. I would be interested in hearing how you found your way to Endrok."

One of the boys flashed a small grin. "Didn't have to stay outta sight long. Can't get rid of us now, eh?"

"Shut up, Ary," the other boy said. "Don't you think we're in enough trouble?" He glared at his twin. "Mum's not gonna like this."

"Mum's not here. Besides, we're old enough to make our fortunes," argued Ariadoc. "Isn't that right, mister?" he said to Hanro. "After all, we got all the way to Endrok on our own."

"We went with a caravan," said the boy who was Begorn by default. "Looked after mules, fetched water, that sort of thing. We just wanted to get out of the hills. If we left it up to Mum, we'd be hundreds before we left."

On behalf of Garner:
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"The chart still open on his lap, Bedge continued tracing lines and angles with his fingers while he studied the young lads. He was reasonably sure he knew the charts well enough to redraw them, adjusting for deliberate errors, in his own log, but he needed to spend some time on his own cypher and encryption first. Now there were a couple of young impetious fools on board. Everything's an opportunity, and every opportunity can be made to work for you. He eyed them quickly and then glanced around at everyone else, judging their reactions and appraisals. His eyes quickly passed over the hulking, sulking half-orc that had turned from staring at the horrizon.

Goryn was all but glaring at the young brothers, frowning in thought and not blinking. He quickly took in everything he could about them (Spot and Sense Motive please, oh Master of Dungeons) and nodded thoughtfully to himself. He muttered in an almost growling voice, and it sounded distinctly like he was quoting something. ".. and the 'Two tiny hawks under the albatross's wing...' Oh it would have start already, wouldn't it?"

Bedge whipped his head back around and gaped at the half-orc in puzzlement, and Goryn met his eyes, his fists clenched tightly at his side. Bedge worked his mouth silently while his mind raced, and then he leapt to his feet, snapping the book shut, and put on his friendliest face as he stepped towards the young lads. "Impressive how you managed to get here at all... I'd snuck on board a few ships by the time I was your age, but never one as tightly guarded as this! I can see a lot of potential in you both, and..." Bedge paused briefly to assume a thoughtful look before continuing on with a winning grin, a knowing wink, and a conspiratorial tone flowing together quickly, "Since you've been made our responsibility, I suppose we'd better find out what other tallents you have." He then dropped his voice to a whisper to reach only the boys' ears, "And I'm sure I could teach you lads a few things that might help us all make our fortunes! If, that is, you'd fancy working for me? After this is over, I can promise you lads more treasure than you've dreamed of." He winked at them again before resuming a normal tone, "What say you, boys? Think you're fit to join our company? Think you're ready to accept our command?" (I expect there'll need to be a bluff check in there, maybe more than one. Diplomacy wouldn't be amiss either. Goryn will want a sense motive on bedge as well as the kids)"
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Hanro listened intently while Bedge whispered to the two boys, and what he concluded was not to his liking. "Ye'll stay away from 'em, Silvertongue," Hanro said, rising and getting closer to Bedge.

"I can guess full well what yer goin' ta teach those two lads," Hanro said, staring squarely into Bedge's eyes, his dislike apparent, "and I won't stand fer it! Ye'll get 'em hanged from the nearest gallows pole, just ta get a profit! Aye," he said, spitting to the deck next to Bedge's foot without breaking eye contact, "I know the likes of ye."

Bedge turned round and sized up the dwarf with an expression combinging bemusement and shock. He spread his hands out in front of himself and shifted his weight onto the back of his feet and contrived to look as unjustly hurt as possible. "Now now, there's absolutely no cause for that! I'm not sure what you think you overheard, friend dwarf, but it's not very big of you to go jumping to such conclusions! I've only just met you, to be sure, and you've no right to claim I'm some corruptor or criminal - I'm clearly trustworthy enough to be a part of this mission, as are you sir if you've a right to be here. I'd ask you to give me the benefit of the doubt, and not be so prejudiced against me for whatever your reasons may be. Please," and at this point, he spoke softly and heart to heart, directly with the dwarf in a quiet voice.

Silja, Goryn, Szazzkur and of course Hanro hear Bedge. Silja and Goryn don't realize the import of Bedge's words. Szazzkur knows that Bedge is insulting Hanro for some reason, but doesn't know why. Hanro not only knows Bedge is trying to goad him, but is reasonably certain that he's doing so to try and make him look bad in front of the others.

Hanro glared at Bedge. If a mere dwarf's glare could bore holes in a half-elf's face, then this particular glare would have. If at first he but considered Bedge to be a manipulative bastard, this only proved it. Bedge was goading him, trying to make him look bad. He was hoping that Hanro would attack him, and afterwards to be blamed for the whole event.

Well, Hanro wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of it.

"I do not have anything against…elves," Hanro said slowly, measuring every word, "though 'twould be more accurate to say that I dunnae have anything against elves in general. T'is certain elves, and certain humans, that I can't say tha' I like. Mistakes can be made about people when they're chosen for treks such as this 'un, specially when there's few candidates and time's a countin'."

"Please," said Szazzkur, who approached the two from the side, "there is no need for this, nor for these insults. I am sure that it is all a misunderstanding, on both sides. Both of you have said words that I am sure you wish to have left unsaid, words said in the heat of the moment and that you did not weigh and consider fully. Please, consider your words from this point on and do not let this matter to go any further!"

Bedge, not a big man by any measure, never the less straightened to his fullest height and spoke down to the dwarf. "I'd like nothing more than to put aside our... differences. I'm quite happy to be different from you, short-arse; I think things through before I assume I know whats going on. I don't go on witch hunts against someone because they're a different shape or color than myself. Most of all, I like to get to know people before I judge them. That's right, you heard me... I said people. Not 'elf', not 'dwarf', not 'human'. I don't know what your problem with me is-"

"My problem with you is that you're a slimey, manipulative, nasty piece of work!" roared Hanro, losing his temper at last.

"'Manipulative'," repeated Bedge, pronouncing the word correctly. "It's pronounced manipulative." Bedge turned to Szazzkur and, completely ignoring the fuming dwarf, said "You've never sailed before, have you? On a ship, if you steer without look outs, you might just run around on a sand bar... if you're lucky. Sometimes though, a storm catches your sails and all you can do then is let the wind take you where it will. Fight it, and the storm will rip your sails to pieces, if not your whole ship."

"Ve calls dat 'buildin' yer yurt on da wrong side o' da cliff', doin' anyt'ing you can't take back wit'out t'inki' it t'rough." said Teurg from the stairs to the quarter deck. Goryn nodded thoughtfully without thinking.

"And we call it 'grabbing an ogre by the ears'," barked Thistle, who stood in the doorway to the officer's cabins. "Mr. Talom, Mr. Warpacer, I would remind you that you both grabbed an ogre by the ears when you signed up for this mission. You can't let go now. I'll see you in my cabin at once, Talom," and with that the short but authorotative man disappeared into the ship. Bedge gave Hanro one last look and then confidantly, almost arrogantly, followed.

Hanro seethed, but marshalled his anger. It never once crossed his mind that he may have made a mistaken and knew in his stones that the half-breed was up to no good; time to sort *some* of that out right now! Hanro turned to where the two stow-aways had stood behind Bedge, only to find no sight of them anywhere on the deck. "Where'd they go? The young'uns!"

"They slipped below," mumbled Goryn as the half-orc turned back to watch the horizon and occasionally spit over the side.

The next two weeks on board the ship passed without any major calamities. Hanro was unable to keep the two boys from Bedge's influence, but on the other hand, the half-elf was kept so busy with navigation and other duties that he didn't have much chance to spend with them himself. Like the rest of the crew, the scouts helped manage the sails, check the ropes, and keep watch.

There were several storms along the way, but each time, the ship rose above them. Telbech maintained spells to keep the air thick around the ship and protect it from the winds. Several times, they would see something moving at a distance. It may have been a dragon far off, or a seabird much closer. Once, a roc approached within fifty yards of the ship before veering away.

They passed over islands on occasion, some of them with vegetation. Thistle made note of each, marking its position and what traits could be discerned. He then placed them into the charts, occasionally having Bedge make the entries under his watchful eye.

At one point, they saw something very large on the surface of the water. It was difficult to tell scale at the distance, but Thistle later estimated its size at just under a hundred feet long. It was much like a whale, but it had too many fins, and its tail was too long and slender. It dived soon after it appeared.

Finally, just sixteen days after they left Endrok, they sighted a dark mass on the horizon. It soon resolved itself into tall dark cliffs. Trees could be seen above them.

As soon as they were seen, the scouts were called to the captain's quarters. "Well, lads and lass," he said, "It'll be time soon for you to leave the ship. Remember, this is a trading mission. Do what you can to make peaceful contact. Don't try and make negotiations yourselves, I'll be handling that part. Just sound them out to see how open they are to the idea. Hopefully, at least one or two of them will speak draconic. Do you have any questions before we land?"

"Yes, captain," Szazzkur spoke up. He had been considering the matter for some time now during the voyage, and this could very well be his last opportunity to voice his concerns.

"While we should assume by default that the locals are friendly, or at least would be friendly once they have a chance to understand our intentions in venturing here, we must not forget that we know nothing of their culture, their religion, or of their form of goverment. We know nothing, Captain, and for all we know they know nothing of us. We must remember that what we would consider a normal greeting could very well be the highest insult for them, and vice versa.

"The situation could go bad, and very easily," he continued, "and what I would ask, Captain, is what do we do if this venture turns out to be more than we expected?"

Bedge's jaw dropped, and the toothpick he'd been idly gnawing on after cleaning his teeth fell to the floor. "Do you always preface a question with a monolog?," he asked in a good natured way. "I presume what we do is beat a hasty retreat, providing cover for the cap'n or any other official delegates and do our best not to set fire to the place on the way out! From what Mr Thistle and I have seen so far, this place is no small island. If one settlement turns hostile, we make a note and look for another, surely. Anyway, can't you just stock up on some spells to make people happy? Or what about the big guy, surely he'd have something that might soothe a savage beast?"

Goryn frowned at this, not in anger but in thought. After a moment he nodded his head and mumbled in his deep voice, "Yeah... that's a good idea. I can manage that..."

"Um", started Dom, "is there anything colourful on board? like a fabric? Um, the paints we use in the smithee are not all cheap, some come from far away and are very expensive but they make the best and most enduring..."

He started again, his face flushed and his ears radiating.

"I am not suggesting treating them like savages, with cheap stuff and all that, just that anything masterwork is bound to get the attention of the artisans and the merchants and this is what we are after, aren't we?"

Szazzkur turned Bedge, "I preface a question with a monologue when we have the time and the need for them, Bedge. Preparation and complete understanding of any possible situation we might find ourselves in are paramount to our continued survival. My monologues are something somewhat preferable to our last breaths, I hope you'll agree.

"As for charm spells," he continued, "I do have such a spell in my repertoire, though I have not prepared one for today. In any case, such spells can be more curse than boon, as the person affected would recall what transpired, and it would require simply seeing the casting, being familiar with magic, or even being familiar with someone else who knows spells and their effects to reveal our rather improper way of making friends. I prefer honesty," he said, smiling. "I understand that the method may be unfamiliar to you.

"Furthermore," he continued on before giving Bedge a chance to reply, "we are unfamiliar with the political situation in the country we are entering. For all we know, leaving one angry town would be enough to start a full-scale hunt, possibly on charges of spying. Greeting baskets won't be of use to us at that point."

Faddenmerith followed Corben's example. He wasn't very good with people, animals and other beings were closer to him. Negotiations had never been his forte, he was far too stubborn and unrelenting to be.

Faddenmerith was pretty happy to leave the others to discuss and decide on this, he was more excited about getting his feet on solid ground again.

"Bedge is right," the captain said. "Be careful, and if you land in the mulch, try to get back to the ship. We'll figure out where to go from there. You're going in blind no matter what. Mr. Telbech has some scrying spells he could use in an emergency, but we don't want 'em finding out we used it on 'em. People can get tetchy if they think you're spying on them. Especially if they're right. Same problem with using spells to make them friendly. As Szazzkur pointed out, that sort of thing gets people nervous about you. We want long term relations with these people, not a one night stand.

"Now, for welcome baskets, that's a good idea. I'm glad I already thought of it. Ms. Calenture prepared this package." The captain took a paper package from his desk. It was about a foot square with a few inches thickness. He handed it to Goryn. "Might be best if you take this. I reckon anyone would think twice about taking it off of you.

"We'll be landing within the hour, provided we can find a good place to set down. Any more questions, or do you want to get ready?"

"Goryn stood there for a moment, looking at the package without appearing to really see it. Then he spoke up, very softly about how he might as well go check on his gear before we set off. Bedge stopped him with a gentle hand on Goryn's huge arm, and smiled as he said 'Hold on friend, let's have a better look at this package... Unless the cap'n would care to tell us exactly what it is?"

The captain shrugged. "Silks, furs, tools, a few spices. Just some small examples of what we have to trade. Go ahead and look through it, by all means."

Should Bedge look through it, he'll find three packets of spices, scraps of furs from otters and wolverines, pieces of deinonychus hide and giant beetle carapace, pieces of quality paper, dried dyes, and small tools, of Drazai manufacture. Everything was labeled in a careful script, which Bedge will recognize as the third mate's.

"If you don't have anymore questions, we'll be landing in another hour. Best get prepared," the captain said. "Cook has some rations for you take with, so see him before you head out."

((Now's the time for any last minute conversation. If you're leaving anything in your inventory behind or want to grab something not in it [within reason], declare it now.))

The ship soon passed over the cliffs, and then over trees. There are more trees here than most have ever seen in one place, forming a dense canopy that covered the terrain below. In the far east, gray smudges on the horizon might have been mountains.

Closer, a field presented itself. The ship began to angle itself downward, aiming for the clear ground. Sailors grabbed handholds, some looking alarmed, some looking grim, and a few trying desperately to look nonchallant about the whole thing.

There was a hard bounce as the ship touched ground, and then another, and a series of somewhat softer bounces, then the ship moved forward a bit further, and came to a stop.

"Look at that, lads," the Captain said. "All safe and sound, like the lubbers promised. Who'd have thought?" He gave a rich, full laugh, and the sailors gradually joined in.

Sailors moved to obey. Six wrestled the gangplank into position while the others got bows and arrows out of their niches by the railing. A few pulled out swords or spears, carefully stored for this moment. Soon, the clearing was secured.

The captain looked down at the chart handed him by Thistle. "Well," he said, "It looks like any direction is as good as any." He turned to the scouts. "This is where you get off. You know your orders. Look for any likely inhabitants, try to initiate contact peacefully, make trade deals, and, if at all possible, survive. If you don't find anyone, report back here in a week. If you're not back by then, we'll have to take off without you. Understood?"

For the first time in weeks Silja realized that this might, all the excitement about airborn travel put aside, be a boring mission. What if they spent months and months just looking for people, and finding nothing than boars and foxes?

She still hoped the only clear spot in a forest that huge wasn't a holy grove, but she kept the thought to herself.

Hanro smiled. At last! No more lurching, no more impossible heights and food that was too obviously ship fare, at least once they find a decent inn. It will be good to be on honest soil again, he thought.

Even the woods looked more inviting than the ship at the moment, and the distant mountains filled Hanro with a longing for home. He will return eventually, he had promised himself when he set out, after earning a name for himself in the world.

And yet home seemed very far away now...

The smile faded away.

* * *

Szazzkur had made careful observation of the terrain as they
approached their landing site, yet he did not notice any landmarks
worth heading to.

"We would best move with haste then, Captain," he said. "Merely
finding someone may take us several days."

Dom, picked up his luggage without saying a word. He had gotten used to the moving and swaying of the airship in the wind and now the ground felt unfamiliar. Everything his mother and aunts had been warning about, the wild animals, the fierce barbaric tribes, the exotic diseases, came back with a thud and watching the sailors taking precautions against the very same things wasn't encouraging at all.

Bedge checked the straps on his armor, the buckles on his sword belt, and the clasp of his rucksack. He'd tried to keep himself busy a the ship came over the land, sketching page after page of rough drawings and scrawled notes in his spidery script.

"Sometimes," he whispered to himself, "sometimes I could almost think that there's more pleasure in crafting a new map itself than in plotting fat prizes and rich ports upon it!"

The book and his pencils and inks were safely stowed in his rucksack, along with his traveling supplies and the bottle of wine from home. Not the finest stuff, but a decent vintage and decent glasswork. He'd made all the notes he could from the air, he'd seen all he could usefully see of the clearing as they came in to land. There wasn't anything left to do for preperation. This, as they say, was it. Bedge felt the electric anticipation that always came after the watch reported a trader riding low in the water. He bounced on the balls of his feet, huming the refrain to an old chanty.

As Goyrn walked up behind him, Bedge shut his eyes and it was there... the thrill of the boarding action, the slash and charge that would take the ship... over the gang plank. It was time.

"It is time," the low, rumbling voice of the half-orc startled Bedge, who jumped visibly. "We should be going. I have all that I need." The half-orc hefted his pole arm, letting it thud into place on his shoulder. He had a large sack slung over his other shoulder, held in place by a strap across his bare chest.

Orgul was supervising the security of the field, walking about. After barking orders at the sailors, he turns to the scouts. "Vich direction vill hyu be gon in? It'd help if Hy knew vich direction trouble might be comink from."

OOC: Yes, that's right, kiddos! The adventure is back on. But first, a direction must be declared. It actually makes a difference which way the scouts go. One direction leads to the castle, and the other leads to (boom boom boom!) Certain Doom. Wait, wrong adventure. But different directions do lead to different places, with different possibilities. Please make a decision.

Hanro looked east, towards the distant mountain range. “Might be some dwarf halls there, I reckon,” he said hopefully. “They’re bound to give us a warm and hearty hospitality.”

“Unfortunately we are much more likely to find some unfamiliar beasts in those mountains,” said Szazzkur, though he himself would not take familiar terrain amiss. “This is not a land we are familiar with, and we cannot assume that any of what we have taken for granted until now would be the same here. We would best take a path out of the woodland towards the plains, where we are more likely to find a humanoid settlement that would be suitable for our trade.”

“This, of course,” he continued, now pacing to and fro, “assuming that the people who live in this land live above ground, but as we can hardly assume that the purpose of our journey was futile altogether we shall have to do our best with what we have at hand. The northwards direction would be as good as any, and I think we should stay close to the shore. If the cliff side eventually slopes down to sea level, then we will likely find a fishing settlement.”

Silja tried to take in the landscape around her as well as her companion's mood. If one of them decided to get into trouble by startling who- or whatever they were coming across, she did not want to be too surprised by it.

"My ususal approach would be to remain as unseen as possible for a while, until we know what we are dealing with - in case we come across anybody at all. That put aside... are we going to remain in one group, at all? It would be wiser in case we come across some wild beasts, but smaller groups would be less likely to startle any natives, and we would be able to cover a wider area. I'm not for or against for either of the tactics, just a thought."

Corben didn't break his usual tactical silence. He presumed the more senior members of the expedition knew what they were doing, although it was worrying that some member of the party couldn't seem to agree with themselves.

Bedge bounced on his toes for a moment, idling tossing a dagger then catching it again. Goryn watched with a little unease as Bedge then balanced the knife on a fingertip and gently spun it. The dagger eventually tilted over and started to fall, pointing in the direction of the mountains.

Bedge's eyes gleamed a bit as he studied the distant peaks. "Now, here's a thought, lads... Have we got the gear and equipment to tackle those peaks? Because, if not, I'm sure we'll find a river flowing out of them somewhere, and where there's a river, there's always trade!"

Goryn flexed the muscles in his forearms and hands and gruffly replied "I've got all the climbing equipment I need right here."